Building a Mediterranean Water and Energy Community

Quote of the Month

“Established in 300 BC, the Ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The first intellectual developments emerged in the eastern Mediterranean and focused mainly on philosophy. People around the Mediterranean Sea have had limitless opportunities to meet with different cultures and to learn about the world and this fact, starting from the Hellenistic period, gave birth to the emergence of philosophers and scientists who made great contributions to intellectual development..”

>> The Mediterranean Sea: Cradle of Civilization

From Around the Sea

Mediterranean altered by Suez Canal’s invasive species

As Egypt marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal, marine biologists are bemoaning one of the famed waterway’s lesser known legacies — the invasion of hundreds of non-native species, including toxic jellyfish and aggressive lionfish.

>> Read more from the NYT

هل تعلم؟

“ينفتح الحوض الغربي شمالا على البحر التيراني المحصور بين البلقان وجزر كورسيكا وسردينيا، وتنتصب في هذه المنطقة سلسلة جبال بركان تتميز بعمق مياهها الذي يصل إلى أكثر من 3700 متر، في حين يقل عمق المياه غربا باتجاه جزر البليار الإسبانية ليكون في حدود 2800 متر. أما الحوض الشرقي فيمتد من العتبة التونسية/الصقلية غربا إلى شواطئ الشام شرقا، ويُمكن تقسيمه إلى حوضين يُدعى الغربي منهما الحوض الأيوني (نسبة إلى البحر الأيوني المتاخم للبلقان)، ويُسمى الثاني الحوض الشامي. ويتميز الحوض الشرقي بوجود سلسلة صخرية تمتد من كلبريا في جنوبي إيطاليا إلى جزيرة قبرص، ويبلغ طولها 1900 كيلومتر وعرضها 200 كيلومتر، وتنتهي هذه السلسلة جنوبا بسهل شديد الانحدار يصب فيه نهرُ النيل. ويتراوح عمق المياه في هذا الحوض بين 3000 و5000 متر.”

>> البحر الأبيض المتوسط.. قصة الحضارة

AMWAJ in Action

Preparations for AMWAJ 2020

AMWAJ Forum hosts its third edition on 8 October 2020 in Beirut as part of World Energy Week, co-organized with the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC). This is a great opportunity to integrate energy and water issues to bridge the gaps in policy, advance science communication and discover inspiring stories on the ground. Get in touch to be part of the AMWAJ Community!

If you would like to become a partner of AMWAJ or learn more about the forum, contact patricia Carbonell: patricia@revolve.media.

AMWAJ 2020

Made in the Med

Leading communication for Interreg Med

REVOLVE will lead the Communication and Dissemination of the Interreg Med Green Growth Project, a thematic community projects promoting a sustainable development in the Mediterranean based on the sound management of the natural resources by enhancing cross-sectoral innovation practices and taking into account the effects on the labour market by promoting social inclusion and green jobs. We support projects in their communication and capitalization efforts thus increasing their impact at policy level and ensuring potential transfer and replication of their results.

Learn about Green Growth

Made in the Med

Almar: Deploying water solutions globally

2019 has been an important year for Almar Water Solutions. After three intense years of work, in this last year, the company has consolidated its portfolio of projects with the addition of two contract awards in Saudi Arabia and Kenya, an acquisition in Bahrain, a strategic agreement in Egypt and the acquisition of a water treatment company in Chile. More water work is underway to continue Almar Water Solutions’ expansion plans in 2020. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the world’s most water-scarce region. Water stress in MENA is greater than in any other region of the world and their natural resources, in addition to being the most scarce, are also the most variable and unpredictable.

Read the full article

Must Read

Women as change-makers in the governance of shared waters

Gender is a much discussed issue but action is now happening on the ground as well. IUCN, along with the Women for Water Partnership, Oxfam, and SaciWATERs released a new publication to draw attention to the issue of gender equality in transboundary water governance and demonstrate that positive change is happening.

“Issues of women’s participation and gender equality in the governance of shared waters have received insufficient attention to date in both the research and practice literature, yet action is happening on the ground. Women play key roles in generating change in the way water is used, shared, and allocated, from local to transnational levels and in spite of legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that provide little space for their participation in planning and decision-making.”

Investment4Development

PRIMA funds 48 projects addressing sustainability challenges

The European Commission’s PRIMA initiative (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area) addresses a multitude of environmental and social challenges by funding research and innovation projects, which develop solutions for a more sustainable Mediterranean region. After launching a Call for Proposals in December 2019, 48 projects out of more than 433 were selected; the total funding for these projects in 17 PRIMA Participant States is over 53 million Euro. This amount will be increased to 70 million Euro in the 2020 Call for Proposals to be launched in February 2020 in Barcelona.

If you are interested in finding out more, join the info day for the launch of the Calls 2020, on the 3rd of February 2020 at the Headquarters of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona.

Full announcement

Opportunities4You

Wastewater reuse in the MENA region

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has announced a vacancy for a project manager in wastewater reuse in the MENA region in Cairo, Egypt.

The project manager will be mainly responsible for managing a four-year multi-partner project’ which started in March 2018 and is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The project aims to better equip key stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the implementation of safe and sustainable wastewater reuse models.

The application deadline for this position is 13 February 2020.

Apply

Opportunities4You

ميديالاب للبيئة: التدريب على الصحافة البيئية ودعم إنتاج التحقيقات الصحفية

تدعوكم ميديالاب للبيئة لتقديم طلباتكم لمبادرتهم بعنوان “التحقيقات الصحفية على الإنترنت”.

يقترح مشروع ميديالاب للبيئة مرافقة إدخال القضايا البيئية في الإنتاج الإعلامي في المغرب والجزائر وتونس ومصر ولبنان والأردن، من خلال التدريب والدعم التحريري.

سيشارك 6 صحفيين (1 عن كل بلد مستهدف) في إعداد تحقيقات تم جمعها في 6 ملفات مواضيعية تهدف إلى إطلاع القراء بشكل أفضل على الحقائق البيئية في منطقة البحر المتوسط.

سوف يرتبط كل صحفي بوسيلة إعلام تقوم بتوزيع الملفات ودعم إنتاجها. ستغطي ميديالاب للبيئة 50% من تكاليف إنتاج الملفات (1800 يورو لكل وسيلة إعلام) وكذلك جميع تكاليف تنقل المشاركين وإقامتهم.

آخر موعد لاستلام الطلبات هو 4 فبراير 2020.